Reference ability neural networks and behavioral performance across the adult life span.
| Publication Type | Academic Article |
| Authors | Habeck C, Eich T, Razlighi R, Gazes Y, Stern Y |
| Journal | Neuroimage |
| Volume | 172 |
| Pagination | 51-63 |
| Date Published | 01/28/2018 |
| ISSN | 1095-9572 |
| Keywords | Aging, Brain, Cognition, Nerve Net |
| Abstract | To better understand the impact of aging, along with other demographic and brain health variables, on the neural networks that support different aspects of cognitive performance, we applied a brute-force search technique based on Principal Components Analysis to derive 4 corresponding spatial covariance patterns (termed Reference Ability Neural Networks -RANNs) from a large sample of participants across the age range. 255 clinically healthy, community-dwelling adults, aged 20-77, underwent fMRI while performing 12 tasks, 3 tasks for each of the following cognitive reference abilities: Episodic Memory, Reasoning, Perceptual Speed, and Vocabulary. The derived RANNs (1) showed selective activation to their specific cognitive domain and (2) correlated with behavioral performance. Quasi out-of-sample replication with Monte-Carlo 5-fold cross validation was built into our approach, and all patterns indicated their corresponding reference ability and predicted performance in held-out data to a degree significantly greater than chance level. RANN-pattern expression for Episodic Memory, Reasoning and Vocabulary were associated selectively with age, while the pattern for Perceptual Speed showed no such age-related influences. For each participant we also looked at residual activity unaccounted for by the RANN-pattern derived for the cognitive reference ability. Higher residual activity was associated with poorer brain-structural health and older age, but -apart from Vocabulary-not with cognitive performance, indicating that older participants with worse brain-structural health might recruit alternative neural resources to maintain performance levels. |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.01.031 |
| PubMed ID | 29355766 |
| PubMed Central ID | PMC5910275 |